Chapter 52 – Let's try wandering around the otherworld

※’Тhеу sау it’s another wоrld, but еven the skу looks rеаllу wеird’ ‘It’s рurрle’ ‘Loоks like monstеrs сould арреаr anу momеnt’ ‘With Little Spiсе аnd Littlе Shino, it should bе fine thоugh’

“Hey nоw, Sрice only dеfеats enemies with schеmеs, bluffs, and traps! He still hаs nо direct сombаt strеngth! Не’s an indirect taсtics-tyре аbility user!”

“I mоstlу usе exрloratiоn and transformatiоn-tуpe Аrts tоo. Вeing an intеlligence аgent is mу jоb, after all.”

※’Suddenly fеeling аnхiоus’ ‘Why did twо non-cоmbаtаnts think going to аnothеr wоrld wаs а gоod idеа lоl!’ ‘※plеаse take care of your lives’

“If it looks dangerous, we’ll head back right away and call for backup! Okay, let’s give it a try!”

The fact that we landed on weathered cobblestones means this is a town in another world.

Floppy pans around to show our surroundings.

Hmm, it’s a pretty desolate town.

The stone buildings are still standing, but there’s absolutely no sign of human presence.

“Alright, I think we’ll start by checking the nearby houses. Excuse us~”

※’As expected of another world, you can feel the dense Magic Power. Here, you should be able to use Magic even without a Witch’s talent, right?’

“Oh, Flota, you’re knowledgeable about Magic Power stuff?”

“Of course I’m an expert! Earth has thin Magic Power, so to use Magic you need special talent or tools to assist you—like us! And Grimoires only choose people with talent.”

“The widening gap!”

“Modern Magic was created to somehow deal with that talent gap, you see.”

※’I see!’ ‘Modern Magic is the one where you use Magic to achieve results good enough that you might as well use tools, right?’ ‘Didn’t really understand it before, but you get stronger when you stream, right?’

“That’s right. Even if a person without talent uses Modern Magic, it doesn’t amount to much. But when streaming, you get the support of the Concurrent Viewers. And then it becomes somewhat like real Magic. I don’t really know much about real Magic myself, though.”

“I see~. Spice suddenly started using Magic, so I didn’t really get it. I need to decipher Ignite and Power-up my Flame Magic! Oh, we went inside a building, but everything’s weathered and useless~.”

Even if the building exteriors remain, any organic materials or wood inside have crumbled to pieces.

Maybe someone looted the place, but there’s no way to confirm that either.

We check a few other houses.

There was one that looked like a shop, but again, the contents inside were all ruined.

It seems like humans disappeared from here a very long time ago.

“Whew, I kinda thought this would be a little sightseeing trip, but it’s turned more into a ruins tour.”

※’Otherworld Ruins’ ‘You can feel an indescribably lonely, wistful charm. Ruins and little girls—quite the picture.’ ‘I’m perfectly satisfied just watching two little girls stream.’

“I feel like there are more of the Meat Brigade in today’s Comment Section… Maybe the Peppers are attending the VR lobby opening ceremony?”

Having Floppy check, it seems that’s the case?

As expected, VR in this day and age has momentum like a bird shot from the sky.

In an era where you can’t easily travel far, diving into a vast virtual world.

I think it’s totally valid.

※’VR is beyond this old man’ ‘I’d rather just watch the VR stream with the same feeling’ ‘Scared to try it for the first time’ ‘Don’t really have anyone I want to meet anyway’

“What if Spice held a VR handshake event or something?”

※’Now I think I get VR’ ‘Then it’s a dive into the VR world!’ ‘First-timers, bring it on!’ ‘I’m gonna meet Little Spice!’

Th-these guys~!

People can overcome their own limits endlessly through desire.

It’s the dirty version of humanity’s light.

And so, chatting away, we continue our stroll through the town.

Just in case we encounter something, I’m using Levitation to float some rubble and pull it towards me.

Seriously, Reverse is so handy!

You can attract items you’ve Levitated without even touching them.

Though I hear one wrong move and it’s a nuclear explosion.

“Ah, I’m hearing a rather ominous sound now. I leave it to you, Ms. Spice.”

※’Little Shino’s ears are twitching, so cute’ ‘A new star is born on the Spice Channel…’ ‘That damn Labyrinth Ministry, making us pay taxes’

Shino’s popularity is rising.

Since being an Onmyoji is her main job and she’s busy, she can’t stream herself. She’s strictly here in a support role for Spice.

“So enemies have appeared, okay. If monsters appear in this world, it’s completely different from a real Dungeon… We need to stay sharp. Come to me, Reverse!”

Spice pulls the surrounding rubble towards him.

He’ll spin this around and around while waiting for the enemy to appear.

“They’re here! Above!”

“Here we go! Accel!”

He flicks several pieces of rubble with a flick of his finger.

They shoot into the sky with tremendous force.

“Gya-gya-gyaaah!”

The monster-like creature that was swooping down from above, grazed by the rubble, loses momentum.

Its form is like a huge eagle with four legs?

A Griffon!

Still, it doesn’t give up on Spice, changing its trajectory diagonally and diving down again.

Whoa, Shino, don’t hide behind me~!

“Releasing them all at once! Reverse!”

The rubble pieces begin moving, one after another, aiming to return to their original locations.

The Griffon weaves through them as it closes in.

“Whoa! Amazing dodging! So strong!! Oooh, Hot Wind!”

If the opponent rides the wind to fly, this is the move.

A suddenly lukewarm whirlwind erupts.

This seems to have drastically altered the flow of the wind the Griffon was riding.

“Gya-gyaah!?”

The Griffon’s trajectory veers off blatantly.

Having pulled in its wings to avoid the rubble proved its downfall.

It can’t perform precise evasion anymore!

“Here we go, fly away! Accel! Accel! Accel!”

Flicking the remaining rubble there for acceleration!

Three hits!

“Gyaaoooh!!”

One seems to have hit its head, and the Griffon frantically flies upward.

Then it flees into the distance.

“Phew! Somehow, it felt more… alive than Dungeon monsters. Without Ignite’s Magic, that would’ve been instant death!”

“Mmm, that’s right~! Master should decipher more of my pages~! The next chapter has~ a Magic that can attack a little~, so you should learn that before going to another world~”

“Ah, yes.”

He’d been given a very realistic proposal.

Let’s call it a day here.

By the way, while this Otherworld stream was obviously going to be a huge topic, an even bigger incident that occurred in the VR lobby around the same time ended up dominating the conversation.

Apparently, an ultra-powerful Demon called a Cardinal Sin appeared in VR.

The same type of Demon that plunged America into crisis, and it finally started to invade cyberspace…!?

Or so it seemed, but it was apparently defeated by Kiraboshi Hazuki, who happened to be there.

Online news is all about that.

Hmm, was it disappointing not to stand out, or was it still beneficial to act without drawing attention…!